The “No Asshole Rule” doesn’t allow anyone to get away with demeaning, nasty, or disrespectful behavior toward others in the workplace. People who continually behave that way need serious reform or should be shown the door.

The rule is needed because too many organizations allow such behavior to persist. For example, surveys show that one out of two Americans has an abusive boss. And one out of five or six people is in work relationships where they feel persistently, emotionally abused.

Assholes have devastating cumulative effects partly because nasty interactions have far more impact on us than positive ones—five times the punch, according to recent research. And it takes numerous encounters with positive people to offset the energy and happiness sapped by a single episode with one asshole.

The behavior of assholes damages individual well-being and also impacts corporate profits, mostly because it reduces people’s commitment to the organization and drives out some of the best employees.

Robert Sutton

Source: Meet the Masterminds: Robert Sutton on "The No Asshole Rule" for the Workplace: http://www.managementconsultingnews.com/interviews/sutton_interview.php

When you go back to your environment and you deal with employees... do you inspire people or do you make them feel fear? Do you make them feel confident or incompetent? I think that distinction really marks the leader.

The right kind of friction can help any organization. To take a famous example, Intel cofounder and retired CEO Andy Grove can be a strong-willed and argumentative person. But Grove is renowned for sticking to the facts and for inviting anyone-from brand-new Intel engineers to Stanford students whom he teaches about business strategy to senior Intel executives-to challenge his ideas. For Grove, the focus has always been on finding the truth, not on putting people down. Not only do I despise spineless and obsequious wimps, but there is good evidence that they damage organizations. A series of controlled experiments and field studies in organizations shows that when teams engage in conflict over ideas in an atmosphere of mutual respect, they develop better ideas and perform better. That is why Intel teaches employees how to fight, requiring all new hires to take classes in "constructive confrontation." These same studies show, however, that when team members engage in personal conflict-when they fight out of spite and anger-their creativity, performance, and job satisfaction plummet. In other words, when people act like a bunch of assholes, the whole group suffers.

Robert Sutton

Source: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't, Pages: Chapter One